Becky Robinson's Blog, page 85

Are You Happy Working at Home?

My home office is a delight to me. When I walk through the door and sit down at my desk, I feel a sense of relief. I am doing work I love, in a place I love, with and for clients (and a team) I love.

As the leader of a virtual team, comprised of contractors as young as 19 adding their talents to the mix, the last 16 months have shown me that working at home with a flexible schedule is not the right situation for everyone.

This summer, I attempted to work with an intern, fresh from his first year at college, a marketing major who hadn’t yet taken a marketing course. He had a lot to learn! But our free-style way of working didn’t fit his needs and the summer slipped by (I fear) without him learning/contributing all that he could have. As a leader, I take responsibility for that, at least partially.

If you are working with me, it’s my job to help you be successful in your work with my company. If you can’t be successful with me, then I need to help you be successful elsewhere by letting you go to find opportunities that will make your heart sing!

Are you happy working at home? If not, here are a few ideas that may help you find a work at home situation that is perfect for you.

1 – First, ask yourself these questions. What do I need to say no to? What are my priorities? What is “just perfect” about this situation? What balance is missing? (Hat tip to Mary Jo Asmus, who asked me those questions early in my work at home life. I wrote them on a sticky note that I still refer to frequently.) To be successful working at home, you must say no to some things. Asking these questions will help you find insight into what you could change to make your work at home situation work for you.

What will you say no to? What you say no to is more important than what you say yes to. I say no to phone calls between 3-4 pm so I can give my daughters attention after school. I say no to most activities during the school day (lunches out, etc) since that is my prime work time.

2 – Find an office outside your home where you can work, like a coffee shop or co-working facility. I’m an extrovert, so last fall, I felt really sad and lonely when all of my girls were in school for the first time. For several weeks, I would drop them off, and go to Starbucks  to work for a few hours before coming home. I would spend some time socializing and most of the time working. I’m so busy now with calls and meetings that I get plenty of interaction, but if your work is more solitary, finding a place to work with others may help you.

3 – Set a schedule for yourself, and plan enjoyable activities to look forward to around your work schedule. i.e. – plan to wake up at the same time each day, exercise at the same time, start your work day at the same time — and put cool stuff on your calendar in between (lunch with a friend, a small group, special time with your spouse, etc.) If needed, find an accountability partner to help you stick to your schedule.

4 – Ask others what has worked for them. If you work on a virtual team, ask members of the team what has worked for them!

5 - Plug into online interaction. I use Twitter and Facebook as virtual water coolers, places to take a break and interact in between tasks and meetings. Connecting online (for me) meets some of my socialization needs. I am happier working at home because of my ability to connect with people around the world with a few keystrokes.

6 – Figure out it this is a fit. It might be that you need a job with more people interaction. Or perhaps you need a job where you are an employee with set hours. Flexibility is a beautiful gift AND working flexibly on your own may not be the best for you during this stage of your life. Even though working at home may be just perfect for someone else, if you are not happy, give yourself permission  to consider what’s best for you.

Tell me something!  What tips to you have for how to be happy working at home? What has worked for you?

The photo is a corner in my home office. Isn’t it cozy?

How to Accept and Reject Guest Bloggers

Opening your blog up to guest bloggers can be a sensitive thing. You’re exposing your precious readers to someone who, besides the technological universe, is a stranger to you. How can you be sure this person will care for your pages and your readers as much as you?

The decision process can easily have you flip-flopping. Overwhelming submissions, unaccredited “link grabbers,” and submissions that have nothing to do with you or your brand may make you want to just call the whole thing off.

But don’t — opening yourself up to guest blogging can be a fulfilling and beneficial experience for a blog owner; you just need to get yourself properly set up. Follow these three steps, and then gladly open up the floodgates.

Protect Yourself.

The reason guest blogging may have you on the fence is because, well, it could potentially turn into a big pain in the butt. In order to avoid the headache, then, you’ve got to protect yourself by only letting qualified and caring guest bloggers get through.

Start out with a designated “guest blogger” tab. This will save your general contact email from an overload of offensively annoying emails that start with: “Didn’t know where to send this so…” Your guest blogger tab will present your guest blogger guidelines (which will have one carefully placed landmine).

Stay in control by designating a completely new email for guest blog submissions to be sent. Of course, be friendly and fair, but also be explicit in what you will and will not tolerate. I.e., “In an effort to keep this organized I’ll only be able to accept guest post submissions that are sent to this designated email. Submissions made through any other form of contact will unfortunately not be up for consideration.”

Finally, your landmine. This is what will set the champion bloggers apart from the lazy. You can make it as simple as a subject line request… and again, don’t be afraid to lay your terms out in simple black and white. I.e., “Be sure to type ‘Joyful Blogger’ in the subject line of your submission email. I’ll have to delete any submissions that are not labeled this way, thanks!”

A tactic like this makes it simple for you to weed out those who did not take the two minutes it takes to read your editorial guidelines. You won’t lose those submissions either, you’ll just know that — for the sake of your time, interest and effort — those entries deserve to be at the bottom of the pile for now.

Evaluate The Person, Exercise Your Calendar.

Before you invest the time in reading all of those submissions that got through, take a minute to learn about your author. Again, this can be something in your editorial guidelines as simple as requesting two sample links of relevant work.

When evaluating the authors, look at the type of audiences they write for and feel out if their tone and style is a compliment to your blog. Find out if they keep a solid reputation in the blogging community by keeping up with their own social media and by interacting with comments.

Once you streamline entries, you’ll read them and then select those that you want to publish. Decide your editorial needs before you go down this path (are you willing to publish a guest post one a week, what about once a day?). This decision will automatically create your editorial calendar and publishing pacing.

Follow Up.

Define in your guidelines how you plan on following up. Do yourself a favor and don’t be vague like, “We will contact you if we are interested,” because it will just flood your inbox with follow-up inquires even more.

Do both yourself and those guest bloggers a favor, and set a limit to reviewing submissions. I.e., “While I wish I could respond to everyone, due to overwhelming submissions I can’t. If I do not contact you within 10 days from your sent submission, please understand that I appreciate your effort but it was just not the right fit for my blog.”

By committing to only a 10-day submission window, it will naturally make you stay on top of things. It also is a fair way to let exclusive authors know where they stand so that after 10 days, they can try to get published elsewhere.

Finally, don’t be afraid to neither accept nor reject bloggers. You may encounter a post from time to time that has a great idea, or a strong voice, but the content just isn’t there yet. Take an extra step with potential and don’t be afraid to ask authors to give a draft a revision. Those that really want to get published will make the extra effort. If not, there’s plenty more guest bloggers in the deep, blue Internet Sea.

 

Share Your Thoughts!  What other ways can you make guest blogging work for you?

Kelly Gregorio writes about blogging trends and tips while working at Advantage Capital Funds, a merchant cash advance provider. You can read her daily business blog here.

Image Credit:  Stuart Miles / freedigitalphoto.net

Featured on Friday: Team Member Amy Driehorst

Curious about the Featured on Friday posts? Learn more.

This week, it’s time to meet another member of the Weaving Influence team. She’s reliable, funny, faithful, and refreshingly honest. After almost a year of getting to know her through our online work, I finally had the opportunity to meet her in person when she and her family came to my beautiful Appalachian mountains on vacation this summer.

If you’ve ever met an online-only friend, then you know how nerve wracking it can be – what if you don’t get along at all in real life? Thankfully, she was even more delightful in person, and it only made me sorry we don’t live closer. With that, I invite you to get to know Amy Driehorst…

Tell us a little bit about yourself, Amy…

After a 20 year career in retail sales and management, I “retired” when our fourth child was born. I imagine I’m one of a relatively small number of women who can say they retired and had a baby in the same year! My husband and I have been married for 21 years, and we are raising our children in the same small town in Michigan where I grew up. 

How long have you been working with Weaving Influence?

One year.

What’s your favorite aspect of working with Weaving Influence?

My favorite aspect of the job is the variety of work I am able to do. No two days are the same and I’m continually learning new things. It keeps me on my toes and ensures I don’t get bored or stuck in a rut.

What’s your official Weaving Influence job title?

Project Manager and Social Media Consultant

What’s your favorite pastime?

This may sound like a cliche, but being a mom is my favorite pastime. It’s what I really wanted to be when I grew up. I’m not a “baking-in-the-kitchen” all day or a “Pinterest-crafter-gone-wild” kind of mom. I’m just a mom doing her best every day to nurture and cherish the four precious gifts God entrusted me with.

What’s the best social media tip you can offer?

The best social media tip I have is: No matter your reason for participating in social media, be genuine, be original and be consistent. If you are each of those things, more people will be interested in what you have to say.

Tell us something unusual about yourself!

We are a multi-generational household. I care for my 85 year old mother who lives with us and has Alzheimer’s disease while still raising my four children ages 15, 12, 10 and 6. Here’s a recent photo of my with the loves of my life (the other love, is behind the camera!) from our family vacation to the Smoky Mountains.

Connect with Amy on Twitter and LinkedIn. 

Share Your Thoughts! Have you ever met someone in person after getting to know them online? How did it turn out?

Best Book Launch Tips: Three Ways Authors Use Bonus Offers to Drive Sales

Buy my book, send me a receipt, and I’ll send you bonuses worth (insert $$ value here).

The practice of creating bonus offers to celebrate the launch of a book has been around a while, and doesn’t seem to be fading.

While the practice continues, it is shifting.

Bestseller Campaigns

Authors create bestseller campaigns, offering content from a variety of thought leaders, typically e-books or other digital products. They add up the value of each digital resource and arrive at an astounding large number. That large number, often in the hundreds of dollars, is bait — “Buy my $15 book and receive $769 worth of bonus material from these experts.”

These bestseller campaigns were/are effective for two reasons. The ideas is to involve an author’s influential friends, allowing an authors to expand the audiences for their book. This method is an exchange: the author features another thought leader’s content as a bonus while the thought leader agrees to email their list about the campaign, promoting the author. It’s meant to be win-win: the author sells more books while the network gets exposure for their content.

Questions: Does this method still work? Does anyone care about the digital bonuses? What is the open rate on the emails networks send? Have we grown immune to these offers? As we have access to unlimited resources on the web, does the offer for more free content drive book sales? Does anyone have time to read/consume the free content offered in bonus packages? If not, is it truly a win for the thought leaders offering content? If an author spends hours networking to create a bestseller campaign, is that effort worthwhile? Does it result in increased book sales?

The Modern Version, Two Ways

Launch Team Incentives Authors create exclusive launch teams, inviting online influencers to join in promoting their books. Often, joining a launch team involves an application process and participating is reserved to an select group. You may have to prove the strength of your network and your commitment level in order to participate. Some authors create a list of expectations for your participation — a lengthy list, balanced only by the long list of benefits they promise to you in exchange for your participation. Once you’re in, you are meant to feel like part of an elite few, with special access and goodies from the author. Bonuses for launch often include special access to the author, in exclusive calls or webinars.

Pre-sale or Launch Week Bonuses Unlike Gary Vanynerchuk and other authors who incentivize bulk sales, authors like Dan Pink and Michael Hyatt have pioneered bonus offers for individual sales. And, instead of offering bonuses of material from others, this method of launch offers includes bonus material from the author.

Pink created a First Mover offer to drive pre-sales of  To Sell is Human last year, and created offers more interesting and compelling than most, in my opinion. Hyatt offered a long list of bonuses with the purchase of his book, Platform, during launch week. These offers are designed to introduce urgency into the book selling process. Authors want to concentrate sales during one big week in order to reach bestseller status. Their bonuses are intended as a reward for your loyalty and book purchase. Most often, the bonus content offer is a complement to the book itself, related reading on the topic or exclusive souvenir type print material.

Questions: What results do authors experience when they create an exclusive launch team? Can any author leverage this method, or is it more effective for celebrity authors? What motivates people to join and serve faithfully on launch teams? Do bonus offers for individual sales work well? What percentage of people would buy the book anyway, if asked?

Tell me something! What tactics do you think work best? What motivates you to participate in a launch? Buy books?

P.S. For the most part, none of these tactics are a part of our process at Weaving Influence. Although we do work with a network of influencers, we don’t offer bonuses or have exclusivity or applications for participating in our launches. However, we are always watching what others do, learning from their best practices, and considering how to innovate the work we do in supporting authors in promoting their books.

Make it a Habit

I set my alarm for all-kinds-of-early today so I could try again at one habit I can’t seem to stick with consistently: running.

If you’ve read this blog for long, you know that I am an on-again-off-again runner. I do well for weeks (even months), and then I don’t. One reason I consistently fail in my plans to run consistently is that running is not a habit.

For my husband, running is a habit. He runs daily, at 5 am, before getting ready for work. He runs while he catches up on Sportscenter.

His physical strength and health reflect his consistent habit of exercise.

The only way for me to achieve the level of health and fitness I desire is to make exercise a habit.

So I’m trying this: a mile a day. If I get up at 4:30, I can put my running clothes on, run a mile, make coffee, and be at my desk by 5 am. I can get a bit of work done, get a shower, and be ready to help my girls prepare for school by 6 am.

It must be a habit.

One of the reasons people struggle at accomplishing their goals online is that blogging, tweeting, and connecting becomes on-again/off-again. Without a habit, without consistency, it is impossible to have a healthy online presence. Your health online (like health offline) requires that you choose a level of participation and make it a habit.

To begin to establish healthy online habits, consider what commitment level you are likely to commit to and sustain. As I start back to resume my running, I am starting with one mile because I can easily repeat my one mile habit. Is it all I’d like to do? No. However, it is a place to start. If your commitment level is a starting one, you can always increase and expand. Could you commit to one blog post every two weeks? One post a week? Three tweets a day? Choose something do-able and repeatable.

Plan for time off. Creating a consistent presence online does not mean you have to be online constantly. Consistency is not constancy. I can’t run every day, and you don’t have to show up online every day. Breaks and rest will allow you to enjoy your habit and will restore your creativity and joy in connecting online.

Create conditions for success. What steps do you have to take to ensure that you will follow through with planned social media habits? In order to run early, I MUST set out my running clothes the night before. I can’t rummage around in the dark, crashing into things and waking up my family. If you must, schedule time to show up online on your calendar like any other appointment. Or, if you plan to blog regularly, create an editorial calendar to capture ideas so that when you sit down to write, you are ready with a plan.

The only way to be successful online is to be consistent: consistent in connecting, consistent in adding value, consistent in showing up. In order to be consistent, you must create habits. Your health and success online will increase as you habitually write, connect, and share.

Tell me something! What habits have you established in using social media tools? How do you stay consistent?

photo credit eccampbell

Featured on Friday: Favorite Finds {Edition 2}

The internet is chock-full of information, and it’s time for another round up of some of the best links and tips that we have found online. Being a team of social media consultants, we’re always on the lookout for ways to get more out of our time online, and we think it’s only fair that we pass the good finds on to you.

So settle in, pour yourself another cup of coffee (it’s okay if it’s your third, you’re among friends), and start clicking! 

We’ll start with the most important link – Becky’s 31 Days of Twitter Tips e-book is FREE to download through Sunday, September 1, so if you haven’t taken advantage of this deal yet, do it today! Want more? Sign up for her FREE Twitter Tips webinar taking place next Thursday. Grab your lunch and join us!
Google+ … like most people you’ve probably heard of it, but if you’re wondering what to do (or not do) with it, we think this article from Jeff Bullas is a great starting point (don’t forget to put Weaving Influence in your circles!).
Remember back in January when we helped Linda Freeman launch her first book? THRIVE! is still making the news , and it’s exciting to watch and support her continued success.
On Facebook this week, we shared a fantastic infographic from Business 2 Community on the various sizes of images used on social media sites. Covering everything from Twitter to YouTube, we think this is worth saving for reference.
This week, Megan shared a great article  with the team about discovering the 3 pillars of selling more books. Full of good insights, we happen to think it’s made better by the fact that Becky’s Twitter Tips e-book is mentioned (remember, the one you can get for FREE?).

It’s Your Turn! Got a “Favorite Find” that you’d like to share with us (or see shared on a future Featured on Friday post)? Shoot me an email with the link or leave a comment.

Best Book Launch Tips: Use Online Events to Create Interest in Your Book

When many authors consider events for promoting their books, they think about in-person events: book signings, launch parties, even book tours.

As bookstores close, budgets shrink, and schedules fill and as authors seek to grow their influence beyond their own hometowns and communities, online events offer an attractive alternative and the potential of reaching a much wider audience.

We regularly host events with our authors, introducing them and their content through interactive webinars.

These free webinars allow our authors to talk with their readers, fans, and followers, building a closer connection and helping their books and ideas come to life for participants. We record every session and upload our events to YouTube, creating a resource that can be accessed any time, anywhere, by anyone who is interested.

We often partner with special guests to expand the possible audience for our events.

As you consider events for launching your book, consider what online tools you might use facilitate events to bring people together to build excitement for your book and content.

Tweetchats. Sharing your book through a Q and A format in 140 characters or less is a fast-paced, fun way to find new readers for your book or to build relationships with people who are interested in your ideas.

Webinars. Webinars are a flexible format — you can use slides to share key content from your book, field questions from readers, or lead a discussion about your book’s topics.

Live video conversations. Using a Google+ Hangout or Spreecast you can invite others to participate on camera or stream live video of your event.

Facebook event. Some brand pages are hosting live conversations on Facebook. You could choose a one hour time period and invite your fans to join you on Facebook for an interactive event. Similar to a tweetchat, a Facebook chat allows you to connect in real time through text discussions with your fans at a predetermined time.

The most successful book launch strategies employ a combination of online events and in-person events. As  you plan your book launch events, be sure to consider how you can leverage online networks and tools to connect with your readers.

Tell me something! What other ideas do you have for creating opportunities online to create interest in your book?

You are NOT Me

You are just like me.

You think like me. You act like me.

You respond in exactly the ways I would expect.

You share my attitudes and beliefs.

You know what I know (even if I didn’t tell you.)

What motivates me would motivate you.

What would reward me, rewards you.

What I want, you want

Right?

As a leader (as a human!), I often fall into this mistaken way of thinking, also known as the mirror-image fallacy.

The mirror image fallacy is the wrongly assumed belief that others share our thoughts, responses, and perspectives.

 

A few years ago, I fell into the mirror image fallacy when I assumed that everyone I worked with would prefer a phone call to an email. (I certainly preferred it.) And then I drove one co-worker crazy with my fondness for phone communication, offending her strong sense that an email would serve the purpose just fine, thank you.

When we believe that others think, believe, and act like we do, we assume to be able to predict their preferences and choices. We treat people the way we would like to be treated, in a well-intentioned fulfillment of the Golden Rule.

The fastest way out of the mirror fallacy is awareness. I remind myself: you are not me.

Perhaps it’s a boundary issue as well, one in which I see who I am bleeding into and blending with who you are. So I remember: this is where I end. This is where you begin.

Once I am aware that we are distinct, I can cultivate curiosity and ask questions as I build a true connection with the real you. What ideas and beliefs do we have in common? What differences exist between us? How would you most like to be treated? What do you prefer?

Once I understand you better, I am free to choose to relate to you in the ways that put your comfort and well-being ahead of my own, which serves both you and our relationship.

To combat the mirror image fallacy, I can ask: What do you prefer? What do you think? What works best for you? What does success look like for you? What do you want?

I can look at you as through a plate of clear glass and see you as you are, instead of viewing you as a reflection and expression of me.

photo credit  gata no espelho by Wagner Machado Carlos Lemes

Not a Shotgun Wedding

Your agenda is a barrier to true connection.

If you approach the use of social media tools with a clearly defined agenda and looming deadline for results, you’ll find yourself frustrated, invariably.

The more urgent your need to get “something”  from your use social media channels, the less likely you will be to find the results you’re seeking.

Building an online network takes time. Lots. But like anything else in life that takes time, the results are worth it.

If building an online network were dinner, it would be a crockpot stew; the longer your stew simmers, the more wonderful aromas it spreads throughout your home and the more delicious the flavor when you take the first bite.

If building an online network were homebaked bread, it would be a loaf of Amish friendship bread, the one you cultivate over two weeks, stirring and adding daily, before it emerges from the oven, sweet, cinammon-y with melt-in-your-mouth goodness.

If building an online network were a gestating mammal, it would be a sperm whale mama, nurturing and growing her babe for nearly two years before sliding together through the water.

If building an online network were a running event, it would be an ultra marathon, one in which participants prepare for the long haul, getting up long before dawn and continue running, mile after mile, one foot in front of the other. It would be all the days preceding the actual event, unseen and countless miles knocked out in preparation.

If building an online network were a wedding celebration, it would be a long-awaited event, the union of high school sweethearts enduring a long separation and arriving, finally, in a warm embrace.

To be successful in using social media to market your business, grow an audience for a book, or advance your ideas, you must take a long term view, not a shotgun approach.

Be consistent. Regularly showing up is the most important way to build your online presence. Engage, interact, and share value — not once, twice, or every day for two months and then not at all —but every day, month after month, year after year. Every day is a chance to connect and build relationships. While I do regularly unplug for a day or two, and encourage others to do the same, you will be most effective when you show up most of the time.

Give. Approach every interaction with these questions: What value can I share? What can I give? If you are not sure what you can give, consider what you appreciate receiving from others. Can you give credit? Encouragement? Respect? Honor? Love? Knowledge? Can you promote others? Help them reach their goals?

Add value first and add more value than you extract. I think Chris Brogan said this: You must add value before you can extract value. Ideally, you will give and add value long before you ever make an ask of your network. It is for this reason that I rejoice when new authors begin preparing for book launches far in advance. When you begin using social media in the moment that you need something, just in time, like a shotgun wedding, your underlying motivation is as obvious as a baby bump. Everyone knows what brings a pregnant bride to the altar and everyone can see your agenda when you show up needy in online communities.

Tell me something!  What tips do you have for cultivating a long-term approach to using social media? 

photo credit Reunion Underwater photography Aquazimages

Featured on Friday: Chip Bell Guest Post

To celebrate the launch of Chip Bell’s new book, The 9 1/2 Principles of Innovative Service, we are honored to host a guest post from the man of the hour. If you want to know more about Chip, he was featured on an earlier Friday post, which you can read here. Take it away, Chip!

The End of Customer Innocence

The day in 1941 when planes from Japan dropped bombs on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, has been called the end of innocence for the United States.   We had never had an attack on our soil from a foreign country since becoming a country.  That day of infamy was an attack on our soul.  And, we went to war to protect it.

While clearly not on the same emotional plain as a war-starting incident, the customer has had a version of an attack on what was historically a key feature of exceeding customer expectations—the element of real surprise. There was a time when a front desk clerk, rental car agent, airline gate attendant, merchant or waiter enchanted us with an unanticipated value-added something.  It had a neighborly, old-fashioned feeling when we got an extra.  The mechanic fixed something broken while servicing our vehicle and wrote “no charge” on the invoice.  We heard words like, “It’s on the house” or “we’ll comp it!”

Then, the world of unexpected extras pretty much came to an end.  Easily blamed on the tough economy, the shift was more subtle.  Extras were not actually taken away, they were managed away.  The extremes of a “no variance” philosophy from TQM and Six Sigma got pushed way beyond its rank and pay grade requiring the frontline to hand over their spontaneous generosity to the computer.  Now, the computer, not the gate agent, decides if you get that first class seat upgrade based on your frequent flyer status and seat availability.

And, the customer, robbed of that Jack-in-the-box feeling of surprise, has simply built the expectation of an extra into their criteria for satisfaction much like the cleanliness of a hospital or the security of a bank.  Value-added has become value-assumed and no longer a loyalty-creating value at all.  Proof that it has become a given, not an extra, is how easily the customer is disappointed when he or she fails to get what was once presented as a true surprise.

It is time to bring back the trust and authority the frontline needs to be both generous and ingenious.  If the Ritz-Carlton can trust a housekeeper to responsibly spend up to $2000 to make sure a guest leaves happy, the waiter can be trusted with the decision to a dessert for a loyal customer. Employees who can successfully manage a family budget, juggle soccer, tutoring and baseball practice schedules, and shop for groceries can figure out ways to surprise customers without jeopardizing the unit standards or the bottom line.

Returning customers to a feeling of innocence requires bringing back a setting lined in trust; place filled with joyful innovation.  It takes leaders who are as courageous as they want their employees to be creative. It calls for leaders in search of invention, not obedience.

About Chip Bell: Chip R. Bell is a highly sought after keynote speaker and the author of several best-selling books.  His newest book is The 9 1/2 Principles of Innovative Service, available on Simple Truths. You can connect with Chip through his website or via Twitter or Facebook.

Share Your Thoughts!  Are you a courageous and inventive leader? Have you ever experienced “surprise” service that made you want to tell others about it?